Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

breld

@nyccarguy - your posting of the Golf R reminds me that my wife and I were at one of our VW dealerships a few weeks ago picking up a cargo cover for our daughter’s Taos as a Xmas gift. They had a new Golf R in the showroom with a manual. One of the managers noticed us looking at it, and I made note that it must be one of the last manual Golf Rs (or GTIs for that matter). He said they were discounting it if we were interested.

I found it interesting that we all lament over the virtual extinction of manuals, but this prime example is sitting on the showroom floor with apparently little interest. Very different environment than just a couple years ago.

mjfloyd1

@breld said:
@nyccarguy - your posting of the Golf R reminds me that my wife and I were at one of our VW dealerships a few weeks ago picking up a cargo cover for our daughter’s Taos as a Xmas gift. They had a new Golf R in the showroom with a manual. One of the managers noticed us looking at it, and I made note that it must be one of the last manual Golf Rs (or GTIs for that matter). He said they were discounting it if we were interested.

I found it interesting that we all lament over the virtual extinction of manuals, but this prime example is sitting on the showroom floor with apparently little interest. Very different environment than just a couple years ago.

How are the clutches in the 6MT Golf Rrrrrrrr?😇

Do ittttttt😎

stickguy

I want one! just have to get over the issue of my wife not.

carnaught

corvette said:

That reminds me, I don't think I've collected guesses for the total number of punches in 2025 yet.

38

mjfloyd1

@breld said:
@nyccarguy - your posting of the Golf R reminds me that my wife and I were at one of our VW dealerships a few weeks ago picking up a cargo cover for our daughter’s Taos as a Xmas gift. They had a new Golf R in the showroom with a manual. One of the managers noticed us looking at it, and I made note that it must be one of the last manual Golf Rs (or GTIs for that matter). He said they were discounting it if we were interested.

I found it interesting that we all lament over the virtual extinction of manuals, but this prime example is sitting on the showroom floor with apparently little interest. Very different environment than just a couple years ago.

Probably a tough sell because the 2025, while only DCT gets a bump in HP (and most don’t know how to drive a MT these days)

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

I want one! just have to get over the issue of my wife not.

————————————————-
Just retire and call it your retirement gift to yourself. If I could get away with that with Mrs. j, when I got my ‘15 Genny when I retired, you should be able to con your wife too.

jmonroe

tjc78

I am gonna go with 27

stickguy

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————-
Just retire and call it your retirement gift to yourself. If I could get away with that with Mrs. j, when I got my ‘15 Genny when I retired, you should be able to con your wife too.

jmonroe

She does not care what I buy. Just what I sell to make room for it.

explorerx4

Do these count as punches? EV powered, FM radio, Bluetooth, remote control, red brake calipers.

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

Thanks folks for your helpful thoughts and suggestions on my sister's two very different vehicle searchers. Progress seemingly has been made...

When first trying to move my sister away from getting a used Nissan in the mid-20k range, I said that the base Subaru Impreza is just $24k, and yet still has all-wheel drive, adaptive cruise control, etc. She said the Impreza looked too small and she that liked the "bigger" Crosstrek. I had to break it to her that the Crosstrek looks bigger because it has 8.7 inches of ground clearance compared to 5 inches for the Impreza, but that they are actually the same size inside. My sister's husband is a tall guy of 6' 4" or so, and I'm not sure he'd fit that well in either car. Anyway, I suggested moving up at least to a base Forester or Outback. Since the Forester was just redesigned its base model actually costs about $800 more than the base Outback. Plus the Outback has 1.9% financing for 48 months compared to 3.9 for the Forester, which right there saves about $1400. So the base Outback is the bargain right now in the Subaru line-up, and talking with the Fort Collins internet salesperson on the phone I asked if they could knock 1.5k off the list price. The manager/owner quickly did that...

"My Subaru manager brought the price down to $28,991.00 on the Subaru Outback Base. Msrp is $30,467.00."

Since my sister was at first looking at a 2-year old Crosstrek with thirty thousand miles for about the same price, she was happy about this. But then when I told her that although the base model was a great student car it didn't have heated seats, heated mirrors, blind-spot warning, power seat, smart entry/push-button start, etc., she quickly gravitated toward the Premium Model with option package 15, which has all of those things and more. It's 5k more, but I tried to give her the logic that over ten years that's just 500 a year or about forty dollars a month. Current plan is not to give this car to the college student but just lend it to her, and have her pay for her own car insurance. Anyway, we'll see if it all works out, but I think their plan is to go in for a test drive on the 26th. We'll see if that actually happens, since getting all three of them to the dealership at the same time with their busy lives will be a challenge.

Meanwhile on the truck front it seems like in the long run my sister might still want to get a big truck and let go of the Odyssey. But actually her current older horse has an injury and is being put out to pasture/retirement soon, and so a decision on this can be put off for several months and maybe more.

U-Haul does rent horse trailers in a very few markets but not in Colorado.

https://www.uhaul.com/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/Trailer-Towing-Rentals/

When my spouse was young she told me her Dad got a Ford F-350 that could pull an 8-horse trailer. Their horses were smaller and/or ponies, but that still seemed almost mind-bending. Couldn't quite picture it. But if my sister does get a truck someday maybe an F-250 is the way to go, since my sister mentioned that once in a while her other daughter who also rides and one of her friends might also be going on these expeditions to horse shows. Younger daughter jumps and is quite good at it. Or maybe my sister can find a place locally that rents the darn things with a horse trailer. Horses sure can be expensive.

A F-350 sounds like overkill and would ride like a tractor trailer. I drive F-250 super duty trucks from time to time and they are rough riding enough. Have her drive both a 150 and 250 to see if she can tolerate the ride. The addition of adjustable air shocks on a 150 might be all she needs to tow with the lighter truck while being able to live with it the rest of the time.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I want one! just have to get over the issue of my wife not.

Buy it and park it at my house. Your wife doesn’t have to know.🤣🤣🤣

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

Do these count as punches? EV powered, FM radio, Bluetooth, remote control, red brake calipers.

Will you be my grandpa?👴

28firefighter

My local VW dealer also had their last manual Golf R and it had been sitting for 6+ months before it sold.

tifighter

When I was shopping in February, the local VW dealers were VERY proud of their Golf R inventory. What a difference a year makes, I guess.

anonymousposts2025

There’s a serious lack of manuals. One of the reasons we picked up the Si. Who know how much longer we’ll be able to get a new car with a manual. The dealer we bought the Si from had a Type R. It’s still there.

Michaell

anonymousposts2025 said:

There’s a serious lack of manuals. One of the reasons we picked up the Si. Who know how much longer we’ll be able to get a new car with a manual. The dealer we bought the Si from had a Type R. It’s still there.

There is a part of me that would like one more stick shift - my last one was the 2003 Focus. I may have to go used, at this rate.

anonymousposts2025

@stickguy said:
my sister works for the fed gubbermint (JMonroe's favorite agency) and has had enough. She also turned 65 recently so has a medicare card, so she decided she was going to take the plunge and retire. According to her, she needs to give them 8 MONTHS notice to process a retirement. I told her to hang on a little longer and maybe they would just shut down and fire her, so she would likely get paid for another 5 years before they sorted it all out.

I work for the federal government now. Pros - fully remote with 7a - 3:30p hours. Cons - who knows what’s going to happen. We are exempt from furloughs due to shutdowns. That’s where the security stops at the moment.

kyfdx

2 out of 3 cars in my household are sticks. 🙂

mjfloyd1

@kyfdx said:
2 out of 3 cars in my household are sticks. 🙂

2 out of 3 ain’t bad😇

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@kyfdx said:

2 out of 3 cars in my household are sticks. 🙂

2 out of 3 ain’t bad😇

————————————————-
2 out of 2 cars in my garage are automatics. That’s perfect for me. I can drive a stick but I won’t.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

My last manual was a hooptie cargo van 4 speed. It was a total wreck but I actually enjoyed driving it.

roadburner

My manual ti is one of the last almost totally analog cars; the only electronics are the Bosch Motronic engine management and the Bosch ABS.

laurasdada

1995 Saab 900s, last driven in 2002 was my last row your own experience.

nyccarguy

It has a bad Carax from hitting a deer. It is a week away from being 10 years old. 2015 Civic Si Coupe

mrwhipple311

Punch Here - Traded in 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz for 2015 (no typo there) Acura RDX on Nov 29 (Black Friday)

Here's the TL/DR details:
LOVED the Santa Cruz; pretty much a perfect vehicle for me and was planning on keeping forever (which is really weird for me) but had 3 things hit at the same time and pulled trigger
1) In the last few years since I bought the SC we have had to stick about $100K into the house. While I had 0% on the SC the monthly budget was getting tight and getting rid of the 13 remaining payments on the SC seemed smart
2) Called back into the office after 4.5 years of working remote. 240 additional miles per week. Going to kill the life and value of whatever I'm driving in short order
3) My free Hyundai maintenance was over. Nearest Hyundai dealer is about an hour away so took it to my local shop who has always done great by me for an oil change. There is a design/packaging flaw that Hyundai has a TSB open on where they package a plug in with the oil filter cartridge. The tech did not know about this and the plug got sucked up by the oil pickup tube. Motor got started several times with no oil pressure (it sent me several code alert emails). Wound up going to dealer to get the issue cleared up and they gave it a "clean bill of health" but my gut tells me that trauma took the motor from being a 300k mile motor to a 100k mile motor plus I know the turbo did not like that.

Anyhow found the 2015 RDX that is miled up (145k) but has a very clean maintenance history. My equity in the SC covered the RDX and gave me a nice little check in addition.

Trading down from a Hyundai to an Acura; not a sentence that comes up everyday!

stickguy

Only downgrade was age. Went up in the pecking order! We had the vintage RDX. Solid as a tank. But I would get one of the cylinder deactivation override gizmos.

laurasdada

A well thought out financial decision, @mrwhipple311. Good luck with the RDX.

Alas, another Xmas come and gone and for the every Xmas in a row, no shiny new car with a big red bow for me in the driveway.

graphicguy

My '98 Mustang Cobra was the last manual I've had. Sold that a few years ago.

I drive my son's GTI on occasion, which is a manual.

I get a hankering for a manual trans car every once in a while. But, looking at what's available, it's not worth my time. Maybe a Civic?

roadburner

graphicguy said:

My '98 Mustang Cobra was the last manual I've had. Sold that a few years ago.

I drive my son's GTI on occasion, which is a manual.

I get a hankering for a manual trans car every once in a while. But, looking at what's available, it's not worth my time. Maybe a Civic?

A lot of the "new" manuals underwhelm me. I really don't like the rev matching that can't be turned off. I practiced heel-toe starting at my first HPDE and I now do it almost subconsciously whenever I drive a stick- even my 1999 Wrangler.

akangl

Long time no drop in for me. You guys have been busy! I guess I’ve been rather busy too. Let’s see, in the past year and a half we sold everything except the house in Alaska. We moved to Costa Rica after the mister retired in July of 2022. We bought a house in June of 2023 and moved in July of 2023. Sold my beloved 2023 Audi and his 2019 Chevy Silverado 3500 plus the RV. Sold all of our household stuff except for a few things that we brought with us on the plane. Bought a 2018 Nissan Frontier crew cab diesel 2wd 6-spd manual truck here from its original owner, wonderful little truck that has been so darn reliable. Found an amazing Montessori school for the kid and he is thriving.

Sadly we will have to return to the US in July next year because I have become too sick for it to be safe for me to stay in Costa Rica. We are heartbroken. For now we will return to Alaska but who knows where the journey will take us next. Going to have to punch the card again since we sold the 2007 Honda Pilot that we had in Alaska for the rare trips we made there, sweet reliable little bugger that looked terrible but best $2800 we could have spent.

That’s the latest on my crazy life. It’s an adventure for sure. Costa Rica has been amazing and we wouldn’t trade our time here for anything.

These guys come in to our back yard, this picture was taken behind our outdoor kitchen.

nyccarguy

mrwhipple311 said:

Punch Here - Traded in 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz for 2015 (no typo there) Acura RDX on Nov 29 (Black Friday)

Here's the TL/DR details:
LOVED the Santa Cruz; pretty much a perfect vehicle for me and was planning on keeping forever (which is really weird for me) but had 3 things hit at the same time and pulled trigger
1) In the last few years since I bought the SC we have had to stick about $100K into the house. While I had 0% on the SC the monthly budget was getting tight and getting rid of the 13 remaining payments on the SC seemed smart
2) Called back into the office after 4.5 years of working remote. 240 additional miles per week. Going to kill the life and value of whatever I'm driving in short order
3) My free Hyundai maintenance was over. Nearest Hyundai dealer is about an hour away so took it to my local shop who has always done great by me for an oil change. There is a design/packaging flaw that Hyundai has a TSB open on where they package a plug in with the oil filter cartridge. The tech did not know about this and the plug got sucked up by the oil pickup tube. Motor got started several times with no oil pressure (it sent me several code alert emails). Wound up going to dealer to get the issue cleared up and they gave it a "clean bill of health" but my gut tells me that trauma took the motor from being a 300k mile motor to a 100k mile motor plus I know the turbo did not like that.

Anyhow found the 2015 RDX that is miled up (145k) but has a very clean maintenance history. My equity in the SC covered the RDX and gave me a nice little check in addition.

Trading down from a Hyundai to an Acura; not a sentence that comes up everyday!

Congrats @mrwhipple311 !

qbrozen

Gotta pop on down to SC tomorrow, recover a couple of days, and pop back on to NJ with the Suzuki in tow. Storage has gotten too expensive. Could rent a car down there for less. I imagine I’ll end up selling the car back here in the spring.

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

It has a bad Carax from hitting a deer. It is a week away from being 10 years old. 2015 Civic Si Coupe

Listed as minor with no structural damage. Get it checked by a body shop and use the accident to negotiate. Is that what they’re going for these days?

corvette

I must have missed it, but earlier this month, Nissan released its NACS adapter. $235 and supposedly, only compatible with Ariyas. I'm thinking it's not worth it to be able to use the Supercharger network for the remaining 12 months of my lease.

benjaminh

Quick update: My sister in Colorado yesterday bought a 2025 Subaru Outback Premium with option package 15. Msrp 36k but they got it for 34k + 1.9% financing. They seem happy about it.

graphicguy

Had a "conversation" with my bro-in-law over the Holiday. Knowing next to nothing about EVs, he proceeded to "school" me on how bad of a decision it was to get the EV6.

If he wasn't married to my sister I would have gone full blown "you're an idiot" mode. I did remind him that ignorance can be combatted by staying silent instead of spouting off with no knowledge of the topic at hand.

We then went into the discussion about Honda buying Nissan. That raised the question about what would be axed. I think Acura would take over whatever is left of Infiniti and that Honda would continue developing EVs based on Nissan's Leaf and Ariya offerings. Not much Nissan/Infiniti can offer past all that.


Love the Nissan 3.7 V6, but not sure it can pass emissions or CAFE any more. 3.0TT may be an option.

Has anyone seen a Nissan Z car on the road? I know I haven't. It's been out a while, too. Prelude is being re-released. Maybe some merging of the Z/Prelude?

Should be interesting.

corvette

Also:
Leaf --> Fit EV or Civic hatchback EV
Ariya --> Passport EV
GT-R --> NSX

explorerx4

Armada --> * * = no product in this space

breld

I have not read too much on the Honda/Nissan merger. Is it expected that it will actually be a combination of sorts, or is it more financial where Nissan is able to carry on is some manner?

Honda having access to Nissan’s EV experience could be a solid move.

I don’t get how Infiniti has been able to continue on anyway. I actually think some of their vehicles are appealing design-wise, but don’t offer much further to compete well.

corvette

breld said:

Is it expected that it will actually be a combination of sorts, or is it more financial where Nissan is able to carry on is some manner?

I think the short term plan is to alleviate Nissan's trajectory (they are on track to run out of money within about a year). Long term, they plan to try to find synergies between Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi with regard to EVs. If you ask me, this whole thing stinks for Honda (they'd do better designing their own EVs or partnering in the free market instead of being locked in with Nissan). It sounds like Honda was "voluntold" by the Japanese government to enter into the merger.

Michaell

breld said:

I have not read too much on the Honda/Nissan merger. Is it expected that it will actually be a combination of sorts, or is it more financial where Nissan is able to carry on is some manner?

Honda having access to Nissan’s EV experience could be a solid move.

I don’t get how Infiniti has been able to continue on anyway. I actually think some of their vehicles are appealing design-wise, but don’t offer much further to compete well.

I'd agree - the QX50 and QX55 have more style than the RDX, but the antiquated telematics in the Infiniti models hurts.

Not sure I can see Nissan/Infiniti closing all their dealers here in the US, though I suppose that's possible.

stickguy

does Nissan's network give Honda manufacturing or marketing capacity they need (overall or in specific markets?) Could end up just rebadging Honda's to sell through existing channels.

Other than that, combining technology platforms?

Michaell

stickguy said:

does Nissan's network give Honda manufacturing or marketing capacity they need (overall or in specific markets?) Could end up just rebadging Honda's to sell through existing channels.

Other than that, combining technology platforms?

It's probably too soon to tell.

Just looked it up - in the US, Nissan has three plants, while Honda has 12 (cars, engines, transmissions, power equipment products, powersport products, and aircraft).

nyccarguy

benjaminh said:

Quick update: My sister in Colorado yesterday bought a 2025 Subaru Outback Premium with option package 15. Msrp 36k but they got it for 34k + 1.9% financing. They seem happy about it.

She's happy! That's what matters! You can't go wrong with an Outback, especially in CO. What color?

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Had a "conversation" with my bro-in-law over the Holiday. Knowing next to nothing about EVs, he proceeded to "school" me on how bad of a decision it was to get the EV6.

If he wasn't married to my sister I would have gone full blown "you're an idiot" mode. I did remind him that ignorance can be combatted by staying silent instead of spouting off with no knowledge of the topic at hand.

We then went into the discussion about Honda buying Nissan. That raised the question about what would be axed. I think Acura would take over whatever is left of Infiniti and that Honda would continue developing EVs based on Nissan's Leaf and Ariya offerings. Not much Nissan/Infiniti can offer past all that.


Love the Nissan 3.7 V6, but not sure it can pass emissions or CAFE any more. 3.0TT may be an option.

Has anyone seen a Nissan Z car on the road? I know I haven't. It's been out a while, too. Prelude is being re-released. Maybe some merging of the Z/Prelude?

Should be interesting.

I haven’t seen a new Z car in a long time. Mostly I see beat up or older modded versions owned by young kids.

If the Nissan-Honda merger gives Nissan a decent transmission I think they can survive. I’ve been very impressed by their engines, even the 2.5L has enough power for the average driver.

The 3.0TT is a very fun engine to drive.

roadburner

I thought about getting a new Z but I was underwhelmed when it finally went on sale.

laurasdada

Coincidentally as I was waliking doggie at lunchtime, a sliver Nissan Z ambled past us. Looked good, made a nice sound.
It did take me back to the early 70s, my dad's 260Z 2 + 2 and friend's white Z.

nyccarguy

graphicguy said:

Had a "conversation" with my bro-in-law over the Holiday. Knowing next to nothing about EVs, he proceeded to "school" me on how bad of a decision it was to get the EV6.

If he wasn't married to my sister I would have gone full blown "you're an idiot" mode. I did remind him that ignorance can be combatted by staying silent instead of spouting off with no knowledge of the topic at hand.

We then went into the discussion about Honda buying Nissan. That raised the question about what would be axed. I think Acura would take over whatever is left of Infiniti and that Honda would continue developing EVs based on Nissan's Leaf and Ariya offerings. Not much Nissan/Infiniti can offer past all that.


Love the Nissan 3.7 V6, but not sure it can pass emissions or CAFE any more. 3.0TT may be an option.

Has anyone seen a Nissan Z car on the road? I know I haven't. It's been out a while, too. Prelude is being re-released. Maybe some merging of the Z/Prelude?

Should be interesting.

I have seen 1 or maybe 2 of these New Nissan Z cars on the road since they came out.

stickguy

I was thinking about other parts of the world, not the US.

Sandman6472

OF, was a strange day today. We only moved one vehicle in the crew I was with today. My lead was on vacation, so I was loaned out. We sat all morning and finally went to lunch at 11:45. At 1:30, got a run to move one vehicle from one branch to another, so I volunteered. Turns out to be a newer Suburban and took it to the office right by my house. Drove nicely really for such a big rig. Finally ay 3:10, we got the "safe to say" text meaning our day was over. Got back to the office and two crew's were still out. Washed up and clocked out at 3:20. First time we only moved one vehicle. Back in May when I was still in the big bus, the 15 packer, there was one day when we didn't move a single vehicle. Days like this never happen but most branches had all their vehicles rented and there were no sold vehicles for us to deliver.

I work the next two days which is fine as my other half is up in St. Augustine with our daughter for a vacation. Seems they texted me to come in Thursday but my phone must've been off because I didn't notice it until almost 9:30. Oh well, was just as happy to stay home. And really, it'll all come out in the wash.